By Yishane Lee

When my now-teenaged kids were little, the video media they consumed was of the “Thomas the Tank Engine” and “Peppa Pig” variety. I realize now I likely had both on repeat largely because the characters’ British accents gave a cultured sheen to what could, as a genre, feel like mind-numbing dross. The shows were reliably tame and even-keeled, with the most action-packed drama coming from, say, a train that’s lost its parking spot in the depot, or Peppa muddying her boots one too many times.

Gradually, as our kids got older and their attention spans and interests grew, and bedtimes grew later, we started watching movies together. This was a massive turning point in our social life: the advent of family movie night! There was one summer in particular, ahead of J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the “Star Wars” franchise, where we sat the kids down and, one by one, rewatched every single “Star Wars” movie in order, and interspersing the films with shorter episodes from the animated TV shows “The Clone Wars” and the genius “LEGO Star Wars.” 

The hope was the kids would develop their own love for these rich galaxies of droids and planets and creatures and the ongoing fight between good and evil. My husband owns the (now non-canon) universe-expanding paperbacks, I am old enough to remember going to the original “Star Wars” with my family (my dad fell asleep) and dressing up as Leia for Halloween. 

After being able to immerse the kids at home with all the background movies and TV shows, we felt prepared for the new “A Force Awakens,” released in December 2015. Even at our small theater in the suburbs, the first “Star Wars” movie in 10 years warranted the hiring of local actors dressed up as the characters from the film. I mean, it was really an event on this Saturday morning—which was actually our second viewing, because my husband and I had gone to see it the night before, opening night, with other parent friends of a certain age.

But here’s the difference between watching a movie at home and in a theater: We couldn’t control the volume. Our younger child, then age 6, was immediately deeply uncomfortable in the theater, plugging his ears through most of the movie, and I hadn’t thought to bring earplugs (or earmuffs) for him. His discomfort and squirming around in reaction to the noise levels was distracting enough that I thought seriously about complaining about the volume level, but didn’t.

It Makes Sense

Most parents are familiar with Common Sense Media, referring to this website on a regular basis to get a “is it safe for the kids or not?” read on whatever new movie, show, game, or other media has penetrated their consciousness so that they are begging their parents to watch or play it. If you do not have a child in your orbit it’s quite possible the name does not ring a bell at all, but for those of us having to manage the media deluge, it’s invaluable for its expert ratings on content, much more detailed and nuanced than the MPAA’s PG, PG-13, or R ratings. 

Common Sense flags and rates the level of violence, sex, and language depicted, and suggests an age, like “10+”, for the movie to be appropriate. These ratings have expanded to details about drinking, drugs, and smoking; consumerism; and even whether there are positive messages or diverse role models—all represented by clever little icons: lips for sex, romance, and nudity; $ for products and purchases, #! for language.

As the sound level of movies continued to bother our son, and actually all of us especially during previews, I realized the one rating that is sorely missing is a volume rating. This is a bit of a surprise, given that the World Health Organization estimates 1.1 billion young people are at risk of permanent hearing damage due to excess noise. A BMJ Global Health report estimates that half the population ages 12 to 34 is in danger of hearing loss from loud music specifically—from attending live concerts and the chronic use of headphones and earbuds.

I have been working at Hearing Health Foundation since my son was 11 months old, and have become well aware of the damage to hearing from loud sounds. I’ve learned that hearing loss is permanent. 

I’ve learned that hearing damage includes experiencing muffled hearing or tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and even just temporary ringing can indicate early damage to our ears. And now, increasingly over the years, there is a growing body of research showing that hearing loss is linked to a host of other health issues, including brain health. 

Just imagine what the constant noise exposure is doing to our brains and ears—from loud environments including bars and restaurants, movies, gaming, and constant earbud or headphone use. And then think about that effect on the youngest brains.

Monitoring sound levels when headphones or earbuds are used is near impossible for a parent—we can set up a max volume level in the settings, maybe, but it’s far different from when our parents could hear us blasting music from a stereo or radio and yell at us to turn it down. 

As parents, we try to be vigilant about media being safe for consumption, that it is age appropriate. We worry too about the effect of a screen’s blue light on teenagers’ sleep, and on vision generally (a growing number of children are being diagnosed with myopia). We worry about screen time and social media use  and the effect on mental health. 

We should also be aware of safe sound levels. It’s not just the screen time, it’s also the ear time. 

When we use earbuds or headphones all the time, this is sound that’s piped directly into our ears. Not for nothing was there a lawsuit filed when a sudden Amber Alert caused permanent hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo in a 12-year-old who was watching Netflix on his phone with headphones when the alert about a missing child was issued, without warning.

Noise Ratings, Please

Here’s my suggestion: To determine a noise rating, we could analyze the frequency of explosions and other loud sounds—say, how many blasts per minute, on average—and the overall sound level of a film. The ratings would be given in terms of one to five megaphones.

Yes, I understand that the volume that movies play at in the theater is often set by the theater itself, on an individual or a chain basis. This is usually the excuse I’m given for why it’s fruitless to try to get the movie industry to turn it down. There also seems to be no industry standard for movie sound levels. (TV commercial volume levels are set by the Federal Communications Commission—file a complaint at fcc.gov/consumers/guides/loud-commercials-tv!)

Yet parents and caregivers would be far better equipped for loud movies if there was an overall noise rating, along with all the other ratings that Common Sense provides, so we can bring earmuffs or earplugs, or even seek out sensory-friendly showings. 

There is a ton of chatter online about the art of sound mixing so that the audience is able to hear dialogue well during quiet scenes while also not having their ears blown out during louder scenes. The loud sounds are inevitable and sudden—which is part of the point—but a noise rating could at least give you some advance notice about, say, some potentially wildly jarring noisy parts.

Keep Listening

Here at Hearing Health Foundation our Keep Listening prevention campaign is dedicated to creating a culture shift in how we think about our hearing, so that we can prevent hearing damage from loud sounds—and continue to hear the things we love, for life.

Part of this campaign—in addition to teaching safe listening practices (carry and use earplugs when you need to, turn it down, and rest your ears after loud events)—is to convey the message that having fun doesn’t have to be ear-damagingly loud. 

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points out, “Noise above 70 dB over a prolonged period of time may start to damage your hearing.” In other words, even a 3 dB increase in volume doubles the sound intensity. A 10 dB increase is 10 times the sound intensity. Our ears, though, perceive the 10 dB increase as “just” twice as loud: Ten violins sound twice as loud as one violin. 

However, the problem is that hearing damage comes from the sound intensity, not the perceived loudness. The CDC adds, “The risk of damaging your hearing from noise increases with the sound intensity, not the loudness of the sound. If you need to raise your voice to be heard at an arm’s length, the noise level in the environment is likely above 85 dB in sound intensity and could damage your hearing over time.” 

But the good news is that by the same token, lowering the volume even just 3 dB can cut the sound intensity in half—and help save your hearing. Sound doesn’t have to go to 11 to be fun.

May the (volume at) four be with you!

Yishane Lee is the marketing and communications director at HHF, where we are working to create a major culture shift around how we think about hearing health and hearing protection. Learn more at our #KeepListening prevention campaign. Special thanks to Ian Turley for research assistance.

PS: Gym noise is another concern, which is ironic—we work out for our health but are blasting gym music is potentially damaging our ears—and our overall wellbeing. Hearing Restoration Project member and Emerging Research Grants scientist Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D., has conducted research showing there is no change in intensity of workout when the volume is lowered to safer levels.

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